Comments on: Cruises? http://baggageandbug.com/2008/03/30/cruises/ Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:19:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.4 by: Prolan http://baggageandbug.com/2008/03/30/cruises/#comment-63568 Tue, 05 Aug 2008 12:47:38 +0000 http://baggageandbug.com/2008/03/30/cruises/#comment-63568 sk8A8e re re re GAV GAV sk8A8e re re re
GAV GAV

]]> by: cebii http://baggageandbug.com/2008/03/30/cruises/#comment-45730 Tue, 01 Apr 2008 03:14:43 +0000 http://baggageandbug.com/2008/03/30/cruises/#comment-45730 Depends what you want. Different cruise lines are known for different things. Royal Caribbean is generally expensive, but a great experience; Carnival is cheaper and has lots of activities; Norwegian has dining whenever and with whomever you want and more flexibility once you are on the ship. We have only gone on rfamily cruises on NCL. If you have kids, I highly recommend it. Rosie brings her Broadway friends on to do the entertainment. Two years ago, we had breakfast with Audra McDonald and her family, totally by chance, on an Alaska cruise. Last year they did an abbreviated version of Annie with ANDREA MCARDLE. It was amazing. You could tell that she was thrilled to do it and having the time of her life. They've had stars from Wicked and Ave Q, Evita, and others I can't remember. They always have extra activities and special entertainers for the kids. Probably half of the guests are gay, but you mostly notice how accepting EVERYONE is. You will see many families of mixed race and lots of people involved in foster care and adoption. We are going to Canada and New England this year and next summer we go to Alaska again. Depends what you want. Different cruise lines are known for different things. Royal Caribbean is generally expensive, but a great experience; Carnival is cheaper and has lots of activities; Norwegian has dining whenever and with whomever you want and more flexibility once you are on the ship.

We have only gone on rfamily cruises on NCL. If you have kids, I highly recommend it. Rosie brings her Broadway friends on to do the entertainment. Two years ago, we had breakfast with Audra McDonald and her family, totally by chance, on an Alaska cruise. Last year they did an abbreviated version of Annie with ANDREA MCARDLE. It was amazing. You could tell that she was thrilled to do it and having the time of her life. They’ve had stars from Wicked and Ave Q, Evita, and others I can’t remember. They always have extra activities and special entertainers for the kids. Probably half of the guests are gay, but you mostly notice how accepting EVERYONE is. You will see many families of mixed race and lots of people involved in foster care and adoption. We are going to Canada and New England this year and next summer we go to Alaska again.

]]> by: Laura http://baggageandbug.com/2008/03/30/cruises/#comment-45712 Mon, 31 Mar 2008 23:56:44 +0000 http://baggageandbug.com/2008/03/30/cruises/#comment-45712 You can get really good deals on cruises if you can book them within 90 days of sailing... at that point the ships are trying to fill up empty rooms and they often have big discounts. Last fall my husband and I got a 10 day Hawaii cruise for $300, which was awesome! My favorite website for finding cheap cruises is "vacations to go". That's where we found the Hawaii one. We try to go on one cruise a year, and we just look for really cheap ones to come up. They've all be great so far! You can get really good deals on cruises if you can book them within 90 days of sailing… at that point the ships are trying to fill up empty rooms and they often have big discounts. Last fall my husband and I got a 10 day Hawaii cruise for $300, which was awesome! My favorite website for finding cheap cruises is “vacations to go”. That’s where we found the Hawaii one. We try to go on one cruise a year, and we just look for really cheap ones to come up. They’ve all be great so far!

]]> by: christine http://baggageandbug.com/2008/03/30/cruises/#comment-45699 Mon, 31 Mar 2008 21:36:21 +0000 http://baggageandbug.com/2008/03/30/cruises/#comment-45699 Went on a Norwegian cruise four years ago for the honeymoon. LOVED IT!!! Norwegian has freestyle crusing, so you don't have to go to dinner at a certain time, or eat with the same people each night. My one word of advice is to check out the size of the ship. The bigger the ship, the more activities there are. We were on a pretty small ship, so there wasn't much to do, but that wasn't a problems for us because like I said, we were on our honeymoon *wink wink*. We went to Bermuda, and if you like laying on the beach, Bermuda would be great. But I'm not a beach person, and the three attempts I made at parasailing were thwarted by either weather or a huge tear in the sail. So no parasailing for me. And the I-can't-plan-ahead-more-than-two-minutes husband didn't make reservations for anyother activities. Oh, so word of advice #2, book activities ahead of time otherwise they will be full. Went on a Norwegian cruise four years ago for the honeymoon. LOVED IT!!! Norwegian has freestyle crusing, so you don’t have to go to dinner at a certain time, or eat with the same people each night. My one word of advice is to check out the size of the ship. The bigger the ship, the more activities there are. We were on a pretty small ship, so there wasn’t much to do, but that wasn’t a problems for us because like I said, we were on our honeymoon *wink wink*. We went to Bermuda, and if you like laying on the beach, Bermuda would be great. But I’m not a beach person, and the three attempts I made at parasailing were thwarted by either weather or a huge tear in the sail. So no parasailing for me. And the I-can’t-plan-ahead-more-than-two-minutes husband didn’t make reservations for anyother activities. Oh, so word of advice #2, book activities ahead of time otherwise they will be full.

]]> by: Amy http://baggageandbug.com/2008/03/30/cruises/#comment-45648 Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:58:17 +0000 http://baggageandbug.com/2008/03/30/cruises/#comment-45648 I have to say Carnival! It was the best. I went on a couple lines (Royal Carribean, and Carnival) and I just loved Carnival. I have to say Carnival! It was the best. I went on a couple lines (Royal Carribean, and Carnival) and I just loved Carnival.

]]> by: Eos http://baggageandbug.com/2008/03/30/cruises/#comment-45596 Mon, 31 Mar 2008 05:13:45 +0000 http://baggageandbug.com/2008/03/30/cruises/#comment-45596 My sister in law just took one and she said that she really hated not having the ability to "get off the boat" - she felt cooped up! They don't appeal to me (most of the reason mentioned by Atlasien...by the way, a large cruise ship can generate over 15,000 gallons per DAY of blackwater material...sorry..had to mention it!LOL)but a friend did and she loved it...said it was very relaxing. I'm more the road trip kinda of gal...although I have to admit that if I had to do it all over again I'm not sure we'd drive through all that pine forrest in Canada's Yukon Valley just to get to Alaska!LOL My sister in law just took one and she said that she really hated not having the ability to “get off the boat” - she felt cooped up!

They don’t appeal to me (most of the reason mentioned by Atlasien…by the way, a large cruise ship can generate over 15,000 gallons per DAY of blackwater material…sorry..had to mention it!LOL)but a friend did and she loved it…said it was very relaxing.

I’m more the road trip kinda of gal…although I have to admit that if I had to do it all over again I’m not sure we’d drive through all that pine forrest in Canada’s Yukon Valley just to get to Alaska!LOL

]]> by: Spinner http://baggageandbug.com/2008/03/30/cruises/#comment-45574 Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:36:38 +0000 http://baggageandbug.com/2008/03/30/cruises/#comment-45574 Love cruises. Who's going--adults, or kids too? Different cruise lines are better for different demographics. If you have time you might check out the boards at cruisecritics.com ( http://boards.cruisecritic.com/index.php) but keep in mind that people who make time for this (including me!) are die-hard cruise fans, very passionate about their likes/dislikes; in reality, nothing is as "set in stone" as these folks would lead you to believe. But you'll pick up lots of tips that you can figure out if it works/doesn't work for you. Personally, I've found cruises to be a good travel bargain allowing us to see a lot of places we wouldn't have seen otherwise--some we've liked enough to go back later on our own for a more traditional vacation. We never have enough time on the ship to do everything we'd hoped to do, never bored or over-regulated or driven crazy by other passengers. But you need to pick a cruise line that's compatible with what you want to make that happen, I think. Love cruises. Who’s going–adults, or kids too? Different cruise lines are better for different demographics. If you have time you might check out the boards at cruisecritics.com ( http://boards.cruisecritic.com/index.php) but keep in mind that people who make time for this (including me!) are die-hard cruise fans, very passionate about their likes/dislikes; in reality, nothing is as “set in stone” as these folks would lead you to believe. But you’ll pick up lots of tips that you can figure out if it works/doesn’t work for you. Personally, I’ve found cruises to be a good travel bargain allowing us to see a lot of places we wouldn’t have seen otherwise–some we’ve liked enough to go back later on our own for a more traditional vacation. We never have enough time on the ship to do everything we’d hoped to do, never bored or over-regulated or driven crazy by other passengers. But you need to pick a cruise line that’s compatible with what you want to make that happen, I think.

]]> by: Holly http://baggageandbug.com/2008/03/30/cruises/#comment-45573 Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:35:49 +0000 http://baggageandbug.com/2008/03/30/cruises/#comment-45573 Love cruising. If you are taking the kids, come go with us on the RFamily cruise - lots of kid amenities. Loved Alaska and New England cruises. Love cruising. If you are taking the kids, come go with us on the RFamily cruise - lots of kid amenities. Loved Alaska and New England cruises.

]]> by: Mama Podkayne http://baggageandbug.com/2008/03/30/cruises/#comment-45559 Sun, 30 Mar 2008 22:32:14 +0000 http://baggageandbug.com/2008/03/30/cruises/#comment-45559 AH! Yes, there is this cute little bed and breakfast in Galveston TX called the Pink Villa. Call the lady that runs it and she'll tell you all about their cruise stuff in Galveston. Best trip we ever took. Kid friendly too. AH! Yes, there is this cute little bed and breakfast in Galveston TX called the Pink Villa. Call the lady that runs it and she’ll tell you all about their cruise stuff in Galveston.

Best trip we ever took. Kid friendly too.

]]> by: Other Mother http://baggageandbug.com/2008/03/30/cruises/#comment-45554 Sun, 30 Mar 2008 21:09:32 +0000 http://baggageandbug.com/2008/03/30/cruises/#comment-45554 I haven't been south, but have done the Alaska Cruise, and we are returning with children this year. It depends on what you want from it -- where to go, and what cruise line to take. If you're thinking honeymoon, my kids and others recommend the all-inclusive packages (Mexico? Carribean?) - but they are not cruises, just destinations. I haven’t been south, but have done the Alaska Cruise, and we are returning with children this year. It depends on what you want from it — where to go, and what cruise line to take. If you’re thinking honeymoon, my kids and others recommend the all-inclusive packages (Mexico? Carribean?) - but they are not cruises, just destinations.

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